Brigitte Bardot threatens to flee France over sick elephants

Actress Brigitte Bardot has threatened to leave her native France and flee to Russia unless officials halt the planned euthanasia of two sick circus elephants.

The “Viva Maria!” star has been a staunch animal advocate for years and after allegedly sending “numerous proposals” to authorities begging them to save Baby and Nepal, who are dying of tuberculosis at a zoo in Lyon, she has vowed to leave the country as a sign of protest if they don’t heed her request.

Explaining her decision in a statement on her website, Bardot insists she refuses to live in a place that is simply a “graveyard for animals.”

This is the second time the European nation has earned bad press from a celebrity as of late – Oscar-winning actor Gerard Depardieu is in the process of becoming a self-imposed exile in a bid to avoid plans to heavily tax France’s richest people.